UK’s defence ministry says Ukrainian Airborne forces have made small advances in the east from the village of Krasnohorivka, near Donetsk city, which sits on the old Line of Control.

“This is one of the first instances since Russia’s February 2022 invasion that Ukrainian forces have highly likely recaptured an area of territory occupied by Russia since 2014,” the ministry said in a tweet.

Two people have been killed in the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk according to local authorities.

“In the Donetsk direction, 4 streets in Krasnohorivka came under shelling, isolated shelling of Avdiivka was recorded. In the morning, Avdiivka was hit by two rockets,” Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.

“The Russians killed 1 resident of Donetsk region, wounded 1 more.”

Moreover, Zaporizhzhia’s regional administration said Russian military hit 15 settlements in the region, killing a resident of Orikhiv “in her own house.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that his soldiers were killed whilst trying to defend the country during the Wagner Group’s short-lived uprising over the weekend.

“The courage and self-sacrifice of the fallen heroes-pilots saved Russia from tragic devastating consequences,” Putin said in a speech to the country on Monday night, which was also his first public appearance after the aborted Wagner rebellion over the weekend.

There has been no official information about how many pilots died or how many aircraft were shot down.

Russia’s defence ministry says the Wagner Group is preparing to hand over all its equipment after attempting to launch a revolt in the country over the weekend.

“Preparations are underway for the transfer of PMC ‘Wagner’ heavy military equipment to the active units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” the ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging application.

Russia’s Federal Security Service says it is dropping a criminal case against the Wagner Group related to the mercenary’s attempted rebellion in the country over the weekend, according to local media reports.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti says the case was dropped because “the participants had ceased actions directly aimed at committing the crime”.